Food Safety Authority will ban most CBD brands for sale in the UK

The UK is preparing to ban 70-80% of the country's CBD companies, limiting the sale of Cannabidiol to companies authorized by the UK. Food Standards Agency (FSA). According to information that Cannareporter had access to, only a couple of companies will be authorized to sell CBD and, in principle, it must be synthetic. Emily Miles, CEO of the FSA announced, on the 10th of December, which, in a few weeks time, will reveal which CBD products and companies will be allowed to remain on the UK market, in an initiative that aims to “protect consumers”.

According to a release According to the FSA, there are currently no CBD food products on the market that have passed the mandatory safety assessment of the English food safety authority and that have been authorized for sale. The public CBD list will be updated soon and will act as a public register of products for which authorization applications have been made to the FSA. So far, only four requests have gone through the validation process and have been placed on the Public List.

At an FSA board meeting, CEO Emily Miles said that 210 orders were under review, representing thousands of products, which the CEO said needed to be regulated, prompting the CBD industry to comply with an FSA safety assessment. Cannareporter obtained information from Cannabinoid Industry Association, who said about 800 applications will have been submitted.

In the coming months, local authorities and traders in England and Wales will be able to use this list to check the status of CBD food products and prioritize enforcement where necessary.

“My message to the CBD industry and merchants is that they need to act responsibly when selling these products. And my message to local authorities is that as products are rejected in our authorization process, enforcement efforts may need to be stepped up. The FSA will support them in this process,” said Emily Miles.

The FSA shall publish two lists, one public of 'Validated Products' and one of 'on hold' products. The FSA has so far rejected around 600 applications and said it expected to reject more "due to insufficient information for validation and no prospect of that information being provided".

Miles also said that he has intensified negotiations with Trading Standards, which will receive the necessary information to initiate coercive action against companies whose applications have been rejected. “We will soon have screened all entries in the three categories above. After this period, only products from the two lists should remain on the market.

Only 4 orders passed the first stage
With just four orders having passed the validation process and placed on the Public List, the news that the list will be updated in the coming weeks has been greeted with satisfaction by one of the UK's leading CBD companies, Always Pure Organics of Manchester.

Gavin Ogilvie, the company's CEO, told BusinessCann who sympathizes with the measures that the FSA is taking, saying that it is in a position 'different, perhaps, from any that they have been in before when it comes to regulating a product'

“In CBD and cannabinoids, we have a group of products that can be classified as food, medicine, cosmetics or also (rightly or wrongly) a controlled drug that is already being sold on the market.

Susan Jebb, President of the FSA further said: “The FSA has a duty to protect consumers. I want to take this opportunity to ask people to think carefully before taking CBD and to follow the FSA's advice on CBD products. The FSA will not hesitate to act if evidence emerges that products are unsafe and consumers are at great risk.”

FSA consumer advice 
The FSA has issued a document with some advice for anyone taking CBD.
“Based on current evidence, the FSA recommends a maximum level of 70 mg per day for a healthy adult. For vulnerable consumers, we recommend, as a precaution, not to take CBD, as the relevant safety assessments have not yet been completed. The full Council document can be found here.

List of Products Submitted for Evaluation